The Japan Times - UK govt denies cover-up after PM ex-aide's phone stolen

The theft of Morgan McSweeney's mobile phone is raising questions about whether the government will be able to disclose all the relevant messages relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Britain's ambassador to the United States.

Lawmakers in February ordered Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government to release tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents detailing how Mandelson, a friend of late US sex offender Epstein, was vetted for the role and appointed in late 2024.

McSweeney quit Downing Street last month, saying he took "full responsibility" for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson to Washington.

Mandelson was sacked after only months in the post after the depth of his ties to the convicted US sex offender were revealed, and police have opened an investigation into allegations of misconduct in office by Mandelson.

A spokesperson for the main opposition Conservative party suggested Wednesday that the theft of McSweeney's phone in London in October 2025, a month after Starmer sacked Mandelson, was "very fortunate timing".

But Downing Street and senior government ministers denied any cover-up.

"The phone was stolen... several months before the... motion passed," Starmer's spokesman said Wednesday, referring to a parliamentary mechanism that triggered the disclosure of the documents.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Times Radio the loss of any correspondence between McSweeney and Mandelson was a "cock-up rather than conspiracy".

London's Metropolitan Police force meanwhile took the highly unusual step Wednesday of releasing the transcript of the 999 call that McSweeney made after his phone was stolen.

It showed that McSweeney failed to inform the call handler that he worked for Downing Street, however he did say the stolen device was a "government phone".

His employment "was not information provided to us and could not reasonably have shaped our decision making", police said in a statement.

The force is investigating Mandelson over allegations he leaked sensitive documents to Epstein when he was a government minister, including during the 2008 financial crash.

Britain's former prince Andrew is also the subject of a similar police probe. Neither man has been charged.

Starmer sacked Mandelson as his ambassador to Washington in September 2025 when new details emerged showing the extent of his friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019.

The first tranche of documents related to the appointment were released earlier this month and showed Starmer was warned that appointing Mandelson carried a "reputational risk".

The second batch is due to be released after MPs return from their Easter break in mid-April.

M.Yamazaki--JT